An Explanation of the Munajat: He Brought Creation into Being by His Power, and Created Them According to His Will

«ابتدع بقدرته الخلق ابتداعا»—He brought creation into being by His power, originating it from nothing. By His power, He began the creation of all things.

The apparent meaning of the supplication shows that here the Imam is not setting out the sequence of created things. Rather, he is affirming that the universe began through the very essence of the Exalted and Holy, without any help or support from another.

That God originated creation by His own power rules out any assistance in the act of creation and makes creation the exclusive work of the Divine Essence.

Allah Himself began creation. Its opening and its origination came from Allah: He brought being forth from nonbeing.

If, by way of approximation, we were to regard power as an independent force involved in creation, we would then have to suppose that power was created before creation itself was originated—that He first manifested His power and then, by means of it, originated creation. In other words, origination is the highest manifestation of divine power in the universe.

«و اخترعهم على مشیته اختراعا»—He brought creation forth according to His will, in a singular act of origination. He drew creation forth according to His will, in a way unknown to us.

The text attributes the bringing forth of creation to His will. This bringing forth can be understood as the manifestation of origination: what is drawn forth from the heart of the beginning is the beginning of being—the giving of being to existence. The beginning of being through origination, the highest manifestation of divine power and the gift of being to existence, is attributed to the manifestation of the divine will. God’s acts of origination are manifestations of His will.

«ثم سلک بهم طریق إرادته»—Then He led creation along the path of His will. He set creation in motion in accordance with His will.

By His will, He set being in motion; through His will, being began to sprout. With the divine will began the growth of being, its transformations and changes, its diversity and its many hues.